Ukraine’s exodus is a stark reminder of India’s weakness in higher education

The plight of more than 2,000 Indian students in Canada’s Quebec province, following the sudden closure of three colleges – after collecting millions of dollars in fees – exposes the continuing risks that hundreds of thousands of Indian students are studying abroad .

Earlier this month, three colleges in Canada — M College in Montreal, CDE College in Sherbrooke and CCSQ College in Longueil — informed students they were closing shop. All three colleges have also applied for bankruptcy protection under Canadian law, making the possibility of recovery of fees paid by these students negligible.

As thousands of panicked students flooded the Indian High Commission in Ottawa and other consulates, the government responded with an advisory (as it has for recent student-related crises), which essentially sent students to Quebec’s High Commission. Directs to pursue its case with the Ministry of Education. , And has added a ‘caveat emptor’ (buyer beware) warning students to double-check credentials before paying any money as well as cross-check the credentials of those institutions.

Of course, this will not help students who have already lost their money. In fact, there have been repeated instances of fake universities, and dubious fly-by-night operators attempting to capitalize on the opportunity to immigrate abroad, not only for a quality education, but millions of dollars every year. Takes Indian students abroad. The year.

Today, over one million Indian students are enrolled in foreign universities. Indian students spent nearly $30 billion in fees in 2019. According to Redseer Consulting, this figure – with applications for 2022 already more than double the Covid-hit 2021 number according to the admissions advisory portal – is set to reach $80 billion by 2024. More than five lakh students go abroad every year. Therefore, Indian parents are already paying more than double what Indian importers paid for electronic and electrical equipment imports in 2020. By category, paying for studies abroad is already one of the top 10 import payments in India.

Given the numbers, it is surprising that there is no policy or regulatory oversight on this thriving shadow industry. Yes, industry, as more than 70% of Indian students abroad are enrolled in lesser-known colleges, many of them nothing more than degree shops designed to attract unsuspecting foreign students. They work as part of a well-oiled machine that includes “recruits” who travel to small towns for potential victims, fraudulent councilors who lure students into such places. There are, and immigration and visa brokers who misrepresent foreign study as an easier route. In fact, in 2019, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency arrested 90 students, mostly from India, for violating visa norms by luring them to enroll in a fake university!

The playbook is almost identical to the atrocities that overseas Indian workers suffered at the hands of touts and agents before the government began working with targeted governments to create some sort of protection for Indian workers abroad and Also provided rescue and relief in emergency situations.

However, the students have no such facilities, as was evident in the Ukraine crisis. It was only the plight of the students as seen on viral social media posts that pushed the government into proactive rescue operations, even as the troll factory intensified on victim-blaming. The MEA’s MADAD portal (Ministry of External Affairs for Assistance to Overseas Indians in Crisis), which was opened for student registration following the parliamentary outcry following the arrest incident, shows that 23,492 students have registered on it so far.

The time has come for India not only to take advantage of the soft power provided by its vast student population abroad but also to work more seriously to protect the interests of students abroad. Consular officers need to be both trained and sensitive to the needs and concerns of students. India’s business diplomacy must also include higher education as a key component and ensure that night-time henchmen do not rob Indian parents of their hard-earned money.

Instead of blaming students for going abroad – as it did in the early stages of the Ukraine crisis – the government needs to introspect on the underlying causes of this great flight of capital and talent. It also needs to seriously invest in creating more affordable access to higher education, especially in the STEM fields, and also ensure that private universities are held to reasonable quality standards.